


(im rewriting this fanfic, check my acc to see the updated version!)

by boomtowne



Category: Haunted Mansion (Ride)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23590930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boomtowne/pseuds/boomtowne
Summary: *im rewriting this, but im leaving this version up bc i don't want to delete it*For decades the Gracey Manor has served as a retirement home for 999 happy haunts. However as of late Master Dorian Gracey's job has been increasingly difficult. With only him an his maid Eleanor working, keeping up with the care of the ghouls is quite the handful. When a mysterious cloaked ghost arrives at the mansion, Eleanor realizes there may be more to the situation. As tensions rise between the ghosts they have to reconnect and fix their previous mistakes.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Cadaverous Pallor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For decades the Gracey Manor has served as a retirement home for 999 happy haunts. While the mansion is undoubtedly a success, as of late Master Dorian Gracey’s job has been increasingly difficult. With only him and his maid Eleanor working, keeping up with the care of the ghouls is quite the handful. When a strange cloaked man named Henry shows up at the mansion uninvited, Eleanor soon realizes that there is more to the new situation and the ghosts she’s known. As tensions rise between the ghosts, they realize they have to (reluctantly) reconnect and fix their previous mistakes.

It was the late morning of May 9th when Eleanor was unexpectedly woken from her sleep by a crash of thunder. She didn't jolt out of bed, but the boom and following rumble certainly made her stir from her slumber. She sat up from her bed and gazed at her room. It looked just like every other room in the mansion did. The same unsettling purple wallpaper seemed to start back at her as she examined her surroundings. Though the tiredness didn't leave, she stretched and got out of her bed and neatly made it. Across from her sat her desk where her uniform lay neatly. As she readied herself for the day, she couldn't help but think about the circumstances that brought her to where she was.

Last September, Eleanor found herself dead. While this fact alone would shock people, she came to her senses in the afterlife with no knowledge of the life she had lived before. The only thing she knew was that her name was Eleanor. Her cause of death was a total mystery as well. To add to the strangeness, she was unable to leave the mansion at all. It was like whenever she tried to step off the Gracey property, an invisible force field stopped her. As Eleanor tied her apron around her waist, she brushed her thoughts away. There was no need to think about this, after all the likelihood of her regaining her memories was slim to none, and what was the point of chasing after a life she can't even recall? 

As she finished getting ready, she took a glance at the clock that sat in her room and took note of the time. 1:37 PM, after reading the time she bolted up and dashed out of her room, now realizing how late she really was. 

* * *

Rain drizzled down on the glass window as another bolt of lightning struck the horizon. Following the flash of light, a few moments passed when the familiar rumble of thunder began to shake the mansion. The candlelights flickered as the shaking passed and Master Gracey continued to stare outside and watch the rain. He felt relaxed watching the downpour and listening to the sounds it produced. 

“Master Gracey!” his relaxed state was gone. He glanced to his right to see his maid Eleanor sprinting down the hallway towards him, continuously shouting his name and causing a ruckus. She slowed her dash as she approached him and skidded to a halt before him. “Master Gracey!” she panted “I’m so sorry i’m up this late! I was working a long time last night and I-” 

“Eleanor hush, guests may be sleeping still” he scolded her. Eleanor had been working as a maid for eight months now and while it’s true she was eager to help, her loudness sometimes brought consequences. 

“But Master Gracey, it’s one in the afternoon,” Eleanor stated, still trying to catch her breath. “I highly doubt anyone is still sleeping” she smiled. 

“In the case that there are guests still asleep, do you really want to wake a cranky ghost?” he cautioned her. He had dealt with many upset guests and had even had ghosts leave due to mistakes on his part and Master Gracey only wanted to keep his mansion in good review. 

A moment later, a loud shout echoed down the halls of the mansion. The shout was angered, and Master Gracey recognized the familiar shout of one of his guests. 

“Gracey!” the voice shouted again. Now he could see the source of the anger. Medusa stormed down the hall, fists clenched and teeth bared. Though sharing a name with the well known Greek myth, Medusa shared no relation. She began to take the name after her death, seeing as she bore a striking resemblance to the woman in appearance and power. 

“Medusa!” Master Gracey greeted the woman anxiously. “How are you today?” he asked in a polite manner.

“Oh I was doing just wonderfully, Gracey,” she began. “Right until those damn hitchhikers went and almost wrecked the entire graveyard!”

Master Gracey let out a sigh of disappointment, “What did they do this time?”

“It’s the usual, Gus started getting into trouble, Ezra attempted to fix the situation but instead made it worse and since he seemingly lacks a brain he didn’t think to call for Phineas who I’m almost positive is the only one of the three to have any amount of logic” Medusa ranted, at any moment Master Gracey worried that her hair would soon turn into a hissing clump of snakes. 

“I promise I’ll talk to them” he responded dismissively.

“I have filed complaint after complain about those three and yet you have done nothing, so when you say ‘I’ll talk to them’,” Medusa yanked him closer to her face by the collar of his shirt and as she did so her brunette curls transformed into the scaly mess of snakes that he had been dreading. Eleanor winced and took a small step backward. “You better talk to them.”

“I promise you I will have a talk with them!” he said frantically. Her grasp on his shirt collar was tight around his throat. 

“ _You better_ ” Medusa hissed. She released her grip on his collar and stormed off. The slithering clump of snakes quickly transformed back into her normal brown curls as she disappeared from the view of Master Gracey and Eleanor. For a moment, the two were left speechless at what had just happened however Eleanor broke the silence. 

“Well then, that was… something wasn’t it?” Eleanor chucked. Master Gracey leaned up against the wall beside the window and placed his hand on the back of his neck and rubbed it for a moment as he could still feel the pressure from where she had gripped his shirt. 

He sighed, “I can’t do anything to please that woman can I?” Master Gracey glanced over at the wall opposite of him. A row of portraits were hung upon the wall and one of them was of himself. The painting was made when he was still alive and in it he appeared just as he did in the afterlife, youthful. As he stared at it memories began flooding back, however he brushed them away as soon as they came. 

“Would you like me to go and talk to the hitchhikers for you?” Eleanor asked politely. 

“No, no, it’s alright I'll go talk to them” Master Gracey sighed, all of a sudden he recalled there was something he needed for Eleanor to do. “I do have something for you to do, though” he pulled a book out from his dress coat's inner pocket and handed it to Eleanor. “Please deliver that to Madame Leota.”

Eleanor examined the book briefly. The book was bound beautifully and when she went to read the title she quickly realized that it was in a language she couldn’t read or even recognize. 

“Will do!” Eleanor enthusiastically said.

“And remember-”

“Yeah, yeah I know,” Eleanor replied, already having walked away and not even looking back at him “Don’t talk to her.” As Eleanor escaped from Master Gracey’s view he sighed once more. 

Eleanor soon arrived at Madame Leota’s room. Now on any other day she would just drop the object at the door, knock, and leave without so much as getting a look at the mysterious woman. However today things were different. Leota’s door was cracked open slightly and Eleanor could peek inside the dark room. Nervously, she gently pushed the door further so she could get a better view. There was no sign that Leota was in the room.

The room itself was huge, or well huge compared to the typical guest rooms. The ceiling was wide and the floor was expansive while the other rooms were small and compact in size. 

Curiosity got the better of Eleanor and she walked inside the room. In the dead center of it sat a table. Upon walking closer she noticed tarot cards spread across it. While most were turned over there were three that were right side up. The first one was labeled as ‘ _The Fool’_ , the second was harder to read as it was upside down but Eleanor was able to see it said ‘ _The Lovers_ ’, and the third and final one was labeled ‘ _The High Priestess’_. 

Eleanor had been so wrapped up in admiring the Madame's cards that she failed to notice the crystal ball sitting on the table as well. The crystal ball’s inside’s swirled and Eleanor could almost hear a faint voice coming from it, whispering unintelligible prophecies and omens. 

“Can I help you?” a voice came from behind Eleanor and out of surprise she jumped. She frantically turned to face the voice, but before she could get a good view of the person the room’s door was shut and darkness consumed the room. However the dark didn’t last long as a small chandelier that resided above the table was lit. Before Eleanor stood the mystical and mysterious Madame Leota. 

Master Gracey had told her very little about the woman, however she knew that Leota had many spiritual practices that she carried out, even though she was a spirit herself. She almost never left her room and preferred to be alone, and now to see her standing in front of her glaring downward towards Eleanor, it was difficult to not be even slightly frightened.

“I said can I help you?” Leota repeated. 

“I’m so sorry, I-I was just dropping this book off for you, I didn’t mean to intrude,” Eleanor apologized “I’m so sorry, I’ll leave now.” Anxiously, Eleanor handed the book to Leota and began to leave.

“Wait, wait, wait, who told you to drop this off?” Leota questioned, raising one eyebrow. 

“Well, I work for Master Gracey and he told me to drop this off at your door, but the door was open so I-” Eleanor rambled but she was cut off by Leota.

“Alright, I see the picture,” Leota then motioned to the table “Would you like to sit down and talk?” Though Eleanor was slightly scared in the presence of the woman, now she was relaxed as she realized that Leota clearly held no ill intentions. 

“That would be nice” Eleanor smiled and made her way to the table and sat down across from Leota. To start a conversation Eleanor asked, “What’s the book for?”

“I’ve been wanting to take up cooking as a hobby, so I asked Gracey to find a cookbook in the library for me,” Eleanor wasn’t entirely sure what she was expecting Leota to respond with when she asked but this was definitely not what she was thinking. 

“Oh,” Eleanor chuckled “I feel silly for thinking this, but I was thinking it was some sort of spell book.”

“Heh, I can see why you would think that,” Leota laughed in response “But enough about that, you work for the old man in charge huh?”

“What? Old man? Master Gracey can’t be that old can he?” Eleanor asked. 

“Trust me, kid,” Leota began “Gracey ain’t much younger than me and i’d consider myself old.” 

Eleanor laughed again and continued, “Well yes, I work for him, sort of against his will,” Eleanor spoke “After I died, the maid that was previously working here quit and I took up the job to keep myself distracted.”

“I hate to pry, but distracted from what” Leota questioned.

“Long story short, I have no memories of my life at all,” Leota perked up, clearly interested “I appeared in the afterlife here, in the mansion. Not only that, but I'm completely unable to leave, I’m trapped here. I kind of just moped around feeling sorry for myself but then I realized that it was dumb to put all that energy into a life I can’t even remember, so I took up being a maid! Plus I think some things are better just left unknown” Eleanor finished.

“Interesting” Leota nodded “From what I know, cases of ‘postmortem amnesia’ aren't very common, while not extremely rare, cases aren't a walk in the park to come by" Leota stated. “Do you mind me asking you a few questions? For research purposes.”

“I don’t see why not” Eleanor began to get settled in her seat as Leota began to question her. 

* * *

Master Gracey paced back and forth in the foyer of the mansion. The front of the home was always the quietest since all the activity was in the hallways, ballroom, and graveyard. The past few years running the mansion had been hard on him as he had had less and less help keeping things running. He needed time to think things through. As for talking to Ezra, Phineas, and Gus on their destructive behavior, there was no point, as no matter how many times he would scold the trio they would find themselves in trouble. 

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, the front door swung open, a new ghost? Master Gracey stood straight and got ready to greet his guest. From the entrance a small figure stood. Rain poured down behind the man and another thunder crack shook the mansion. The man wore a cloak which almost touched the floor as well as a top hat. His hair was a curly mess that stuck out from beneath his hat. In his bony hands he gripped a hatbox. 

Master Gracey saw the man’s skeletal face and he seemed to stare through him. His eyes glowed yellow and they were filled with an indiscernible emotion. An anger towards Gracey himself, like the man could see every sin that he had committed and loathed him for each and every one. He recognized the man, though decayed and beaten, he could never forget those eyes.

“I recall I told you I never wanted to see you again” Master Gracey told the man angrily.

“And I recall you saying to never return for a hundred years, and if my math is correct it’s been _much_ longer than that, Dorian” the man replied.

Dorian sighed, “Fine then, Henry, you win.” Henry stepped into the room and stepped past him, without giving him so much as a side glance. He walked determined, his destination awaiting him. “Henry, wait” Dorian blurted. 

“I’ve done enough waiting, Dorian” Henry was fuming with anger. Dorian saved his breath and stayed quiet as he followed the man down the hall. With each step he took, Henry limped. Dorian had never lived on the streets himself however if that was what came of it he knew that he never wanted to. He trailed after Henry, knowing exactly where he was going and what was going to happen. He walked past door after door in the hallway however Henry soon approached the ballroom and when he saw the sight of it he stopped and gripped the balcony. 

Henry stared down at the chaos that ensued below. A ghost played a tune on an organ to the left, pairs waltzed to the music, people ate at the table, and the swinging wake continued on. 

“So you actually went and turned this place into a retirement home? That really doesn’t sound like you, Dorian” Henry scoffed. 

“Well in the span of a hundred years things change, and I’ve changed” he replied. 

"Yeah… sure you have” Henry walked away from the balcony and began to approach the door to the attic. Dorian knew Henry was done listening to him, so there was no point in stopping him now. Walking opposite Henry, Dorian noticed the Hitchhiking Ghosts. At first the three were chatting, and didn’t notice Henry walk by, however Ezra suddenly perked up and turned to look. 

“Henry?” the tallest hitchhiker’s face was full of shock. Henry heard his voice and stopped dead in his tracks, he turned to face him. “Henry!” Ezra rushed forward and hugged him tightly, so tightly in fact that if Henry were alive he would have suffocated in Ezra’s arms, “It’s been so long!”

“Yeah, yeah… I know” Henry replied in a distracted manner, he looked to be attempting to escape the grip.

“I’ve missed you so much!” Ezra didn’t let go of Henry “Oh wait, you haven’t met Phin and Gus have you?” he called for the other two hitchhikers and they walked over to the two. 

Ezra let go of Henry. “This is Phineas and Gus! I met em’ not long after you died! They helped me run the haberdashery after you were gone.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet both of you, but I really need to do something” Henry stated coldly and began to walk away.

“God it’s been so long, i’ll finally be able to tease my little brother again just like all those years ago” Ezra followed Henry as he walked.

“Ezra, for the hundredth time, calling me your little brother just because i’m shorter than you inst funny” Henry shook his head, not in the mood for his brother’s antics. As Henry walked to his destination, Ezra’s expression began to change.

“Uh, Henry? I really wouldn’t go in there if I were you” Ezra cautioned. Henry whipped around to face Ezra, the other two hitchhikers, and Dorian. 

“Listen, I have had enough of this, you all should know exactly why i’m here and I've waited a hundred years for this moment and none of you are ruining it” Henry stormed towards the attic door, opened it, and slammed his door behind him. Dorian, Ezra, Phineas, and Gus were all at a loss for words.

“So… are we gonna go rescue your brother from Constance?” Phineas looked up to Ezra.

Ezra sighed “Alright, let’s go get him”. The hitchhikers walked down the stairs to the ballroom. “You might want to come too, Dorian” Ezra turned to face the mansion’s master “It’s the least you could do.”

* * *

Henry slammed the door shut behind him and let out a sigh of relief. A hundred years of torture had led him to this moment and he was ready for it with open arms. He turned away from the door and faced the attic scenery. It certainly had changed since the days he lived here. Upon examining the room he took note of the large banner that hung from the ceiling ‘True Love Forever; Frank and Constance’, _that name_. Memories that Henry had tried to shut out time and time again failed to came flooding back. 

He frantically looked around the room and noticed the photo sitting closest to him. The photo sat in a detailed oval frame and it pictured the _loving_ couple of Ambrose Harper and Constance Hatchaway. The bride and groom looked content, however Henry vividly remembered the newspaper headlines the day after the wedding. Ambrose was murdered, and though no one was convicted, Henry knew exactly who did and he was staring directly at her photo. All of her husbands were murdered, and she was the one who did it. 

Henry was the one who had sewn together each and every one of the groom’s suits, he had been hired by Constance. Though she had commissioned him for wedding suits, little did he know they were all funeral wear. He knew Constance well, and as he recalled his memories of the Black Widow Bride he felt a lump begin to form in his throat. 

He felt a shove from behind and he fell forward, hitting the attic floor with a thud. Henry frantically scrambled to his feet and briefly turned to see the one who had pushed him. It was Constance herself, her deathly glow emanating from her completion. A hatchet appeared in her hands, the blade glistened from the moon light that had found it’s way in the attic. 

The bride swung the hatchet towards his neck and instinctively allowed his head to disappear from his shoulders and into his hatbox which he held. He felt a gush of wind as the hatchet flew through where his head once was. Before Henry could do anything else, he was pinned with his back against a table. The bride held her hatchet up to a scar that was on his throat. 

“Hey Henry,” the bride smirked in a teasing manner, “It’s been a while.” If Henry had a heart it would be pounding. He remembered the feeling of that same metal touching his throat, however before it only lasted a moment, and yet he never forgot it. This was the same hatchet that had ended his life exactly one hundred and thirty three years before. 

As much as Henry wanted to curse Constance out and shame her for each and every wrongdoing she had done he only had one thing on his mind, “Where’s Emily?” he forcefully inquired. 

Constance gave a small chuckle, “Dorian didn’t tell you what happened did he?”

“What happened?” Henry growled. 

“She’s lost, Henry” Constance released her grip on him and backed away, crossing her arms and leaned herself on the mess behind her. 

“Cut the bullshit,” Henry fumed, he clenched his fist. 

“Listen up,” Constance sighed and began “I get it, I know based on my history I’m not the most trustworthy but she’s gone.”

“As self aware as you are, I really can’t trust you and you should know that” Henry narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Alright, Constance you’ve had your fun” Dorian’s voice cut through the attic. He walked up to Constance, arms crossed. 

“Aw, Dorian, you’re no fun” Constance teased. As she said this, Henry walked past Dorian and out to the attic balcony. There a staircase was connected to it and led down to the entrance of the graveyard. There at the entrance a frightened caretaker stood with his dog, a shivering mess. Up the staircase stood the hitchhikers who had followed Dorian to the attic. Henry walked past them without even glancing at them. 

“Wait, where are you going?” Ezra asked “We’ve got a whole lot to catch you up on!”

“I’m getting answers” was all he said to his brother. Constance was one of the most untrustworthy people Henry could think of, after all she had killed all five of her husbands and lied her way out of the consequences. He knew someone who would tell him the truth and set things straight. As he walked, the thought hit him, what if she wasn’t lying? And Emily was really gone? _No_ , Henry thought, _there’s no way_. The sight of Leota’s door calmed Henry, knowing she would set things right. 

He anxiously lifted his hand to knock, but before he could even touch the door, it swung open and Leota stood there, emotion filled her eyes. 

“You’re back?” she said breathlessly, she was in complete and utter shock.

Henry paused before he spoke, “Yeah,” finally for the first time in a long time he smiled “I’m back.” It felt weird smiling, after all being alone on the streets, there wasn’t much to smile at. 

Leota lunged towards him and hugged Henry tightly, they didn’t speak. After a few moments, Henry let go from the hug. 

“I need help from you,” Henry stated “Where’s Emily?” Leota’s expression changed, originally content now her face looked shocked and concerned. 

She sighed, “Come inside and take a seat” she motioned to the table. Henry didn’t respond, he just followed. He took a seat at the table and looked down at the mess that lay before him. Papers were sprawled out across the surface filled front to back with writings. 

“Sorry about that,” Leota apologized “I had a guest earlier.” She lifted her hand and waved it. The papers neatly levitated and stacked themselves into an organized pile. After they were stacked she took them from the air and placed them on the floor beside the table. 

“Now about Emily” Henry blurted, he was anxious to learn what happened to her, what had come of his wife. 

Leota sighed. The room was quiet for a moment but she soon began “After Dorian kicked you out, Emily still held hope that you would come back. She told me that whether you came back in three days or three hundred years she would wait.” Leota’s hands fidgeted on the table, and her words shook with apprehension. “Dorian was determined to keep you away, no matter what cost, so he lied to her.”

Henry’s fist clenched hearing those words.

“He told her that you had been lost, and she fully believed it” he didn’t say another word “She became more and more distant with each passing day, her stare was blank, and her words meaningless. Before I could do anything, she was gone.” 

An emptiness began to form in Henry’s chest. He stared blankly at the table, not bothering to make eye contact with her. He felt a familiar melancholy begin to creep up his spine. Henry was at a loss for words. He felt dizzy, like he had been standing upside down this entire time. The overwhelming thoughts that swirled through his mind made him want to scream. The room was as silent as death itself.

“Are you okay?” Leota asked gently, placing her slender hand upon his clenched fist. Henry didn’t even know what to say. 

“It’s been a hundred years, and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of seeing her again one day” his voice shook. “Now she’s gone… what do I do?” a small sob broke through his words and all at once, the melancholy that he had been holding back since the moment he arrived in the mansion was released. Tears began to drip down his skeletal face. 

Leota gently grabbed his hand and held it in a comforting manner as he cried. 

“I feel your pain, Henry,” Leota spoke softly “I miss her too, we all do.”

Henry buried his face into his free hand. His teeth were clenched as he shook with every sob. 

“I feel so stupid,” he sobbed once more “I know she’d want me to be strong and not linger on these feelings but-” Henry cut himself off. More tears pooled in his eyes. 

“You’re not stupid, Henry,” Leota spoke “You’re one of the strongest people I know, you lived over a hundred years on the streets with no shelter and you were determined enough to keep going.”

“But now that the source of that determination is gone, what now?” Henry’s sobs had calmed now however his voice still shook. 

“Find something new,” Leota gave a small smile “I know you loved Emily more than anything and I’m not trying to take that away, but you don’t need to depend on her, you may think you’re alone but you have friends and family here who care for you just as much as you cared for Emily.”

Henry understood what Leota was saying, however he still felt lost.

“Now, I think I have a good way to make you feel better,” Leota smiled once more “I think you should have a talk with Dorian, I can sense your anger towards him has grown since hearing the news, and in order for you to be in a fresh state of mind I would suggest attempting to resolve things with him.”

Henry sat up from his chair. He knew he had to at least attempt to have a discussion with the mansion’s master, however he knew resolving the conflict wouldn’t be simple. 

“Thank you,” he smiled back at Leota and left the room. His eyes still felt swollen from his tears as he left and though he definitely felt better on the situation as a whole. However, he was nowhere near ready to talk to Dorian, or anyone for that matter. He racked his brain to think of a quiet, mostly undisturbed place in the mansion where he could sit for a while. He remembered the library, which he recalled was almost unused when he was in the mansion previously so he began to make his way to it. 

However things didn’t go as planned for him. To pass the time, Eleanor had gone to the library to sort through the bookshelves as they were organized in a disastrous manner. They had been like this for so long that they had begun to collect dust and cobwebs. The library while not abandoned was clearly not the most haunted spot in the home. 

Henry entered the library and as he did so he instantly found Eleanor. She was standing on a stepping stool. On the floor next to the stool was a pile of books that were placed incorrectly (and compared to what was left on the shelf, the pile was rather large). In her hands she held two books, she placed one back on the shelf after swiping the dust off the cover. She repeated the process with the other book. Eleanor then noticed Henry, who still stood at the entrance to the library.

“Oh, hello! Welcome! Can I get you anything” Eleanor greeted him, she jumped down from her stepping stool and approached him.

“Oh no, that’s alright, I don’t need anything” Henry replied in a polite manner. He wanted to leave and find another place to be alone, but he felt awkward walking in the library and instantly leaving. “So, do you work here?” he asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

“Yep!” Eleanor replied cheerfully “My names Eleanor, by the way,”

“It’s nice to meet you, my name’s Henry” he responded. 

“Are you new here by any chance? I’ve never seen you around and I only forget a face once in a full moon! Unless...” Eleanor paused for a moment, placing her hand to her chin in contemplation “Say, have you been outside tonight? Is the moon… fuller than usual?”

“Uh, not that I recall?” he replied awkwardly. 

“In that case, you must be a new ghost here then!” she excitedly exclaimed, pointing her finger at him.

“Well, I really wouldn’t consider myself _new_ but-”

“Oh! You must have stayed here before!” Eleanor interrupted.

“It’s really not as simple as that, kid” Henry sighed, crossing his arms.

“If I am correct, that means there must be an interesting story behind your visit here” Eleanor smiled in a smug like manner. Crossing her arms and leaning closer to Henry.

“I suppose the story’s interesting enough,” Henry stated in a sigh. “I was good friends with Dorian before, when we were alive.”

“Wait, wait, do you mean Master Gracey?” Eleanor questioned “Dang, not a lot of people call him by his first name, Ezra’s the only one who calls him that I've seen, wait do you know Ezra?”

“Yeah, he’s my brother” Henry answered.

Eleanor gasped “Really? You’re Ezra’s brother? Wow, small world, huh?” Eleanor’s grin was wide and her complexion was youthful. He felt like he was being brought back to his living days. Eleanor reminded him of when his brother was young. He remembered every morning waking up and greeting Ezra with his almost identical toothy grin. 

“Yeah,” Henry chuckled, he began his story “Dorian ran away from home when he was young to escape from his parents, and to put it lightly they weren’t the nicest people.” Though Henry hadn’t had an encounter with the master’s mother and father, the tales he heard convinced him enough he was lucky to have never met them. “He began to live on the streets and he was soon led to my family’s haberdashery. I was only around nineteen then and I had been running the shop on my own since I was fifteen due to both of my parents being dead and my uncle having died in the Civil War.”

“Jeez, the Civil War? I always forget how old some ghosts can be” Eleanor stated. Though it was clear to be in a humorous tone, Henry felt uneasy. _Am I really that old_? He thought, but didn’t linger on it. 

“I felt sorry for him and I let him stay in my shop, on the condition that he worked for me and to my surprise he actually was hardworking and he soon became almost a member of my family” Henry smiled thinking about those days. “Years passed and one day, he got news that his parents were dead. As soon as he heard the news, he left and returned to his life in the mansion. Considering that all his relatives living in New Orleans had died during his time working with me, he was so well off in fortune that he didn’t need to work another day in his life.” Henry felt that same feeling of betrayal creep up his spine as he recalled the memories. “Almost as soon as he returned home he was engaged to one of his childhood friends, Emily Hatchaway.”

“Did you say Hatchaway? This Emily you mention didn’t happen to be related to a certain attic bride did she?” Eleanor inquired. 

“Yes, they’re related. Emily was Constance’s cousin,” answered Henry. Eleanor nodded in understanding, he noticed she mouthed an elongated ‘oh’ as she did so. “I was on good terms with the Hatchaways because I had made the suits and hats for Constance’s first husband, Amrbose. I believe it was around this time when she met Frank Banks, her second husband and victim” Henry recalled the many hours he spent hand stitching the fabric for Constance’s groom. He put his heart and soul into it and to discover that Ambrose would be found dead in that same suit made him feel uneasy. 

“One day, Emily came into my shop and commissioned me a suit for Dorian, though she was unaware of my and Dorian’s previous friendship. We became good friends after our talk and she invited me to her and Dorian’s engagement party. While parties really weren’t my thing I went anyway as a polite gesture and me and Emily talked the night away up until she was needed in the ballroom.” The mindless and restless chatter of the high class party was something that Henry just couldn’t grasp the enjoyment of and neither could Emily he remembered. 

“A day or two later, in the wee hours of the morning there was a knock at my door, it was Emily. She was distraught and a crying mess and as I comforted her she confessed that she didn’t love Dorian at all and that over the days since the party she had realized she loved me. I became involved in an affair with her, however the day of her wedding she told me she never wanted to see me again. Though I understood due to our circumstances, considering she was now a married woman, my heart was crushed. About eight years later, Emily and Dorian were divorced due to their constant arguing and disagreements. Emily came back to me and we were finally together officially. We were soon engaged and married. However on the day of our wedding, we were murdered by Constance.”

“Woah, what? I thought Constance only murdered her husbands?” Eleanor inquired, curiously. 

“No, if i’ll be honest, I think she only is open about her husbands murders because she can easily defend herself with the whole ‘they were awful men’ excuse, about me and Emily, there’s not much there to use in her favor, is there?” Henry answered. “For whatever reason, Emily was bound to the mansion, unable to leave, and since I would go wherever she would, I appeared in the afterlife alongside her in the mansion’s attic.”

“Did you say _unable to leave_?” Eleanor’s face turned to shock.

“Yes, why?” Henry questioned.

“I'm unable to leave as well! No matter how many times I've tried I just can’t leave the property” Eleanor’s mouth was agape with shock. Henry didn’t understand. Why was Eleanor unable to leave just as Emily was? 

“What? You can’t leave either?” Henry asked confusedly.

“Don’t stop the story! I’m invested!” Eleanor waved her hand to signal him to continue “We can worry about weird similarities later!”

“Alright then?” Henry began to continue “I stayed with Emily in the attic to give her company. Years passed, towards the end of Dorian life he became bitter and he was angered by almost everything. When he… ended his life, he found me and Emily in the attic and was enraged. He forced me out and in his slur of words he spat at me he told me he didn’t want to see me for a hundred years. It’s been much longer than that but I knew that I would come back someday for Emily and that day was today. However when I went to find her in the attic, she was gone and Constance was in her place and she had been lost” Henry concluded. Throughout his story, he felt waves of emotion crash through him and it was hard to not crumple to the floor upon recounting his life.

“Where on earth could Emily be?” Eleanor asked. Henry was dumbfounded, did she not know what lost meant?

“Do... do you not know what lost means?” he inquired, the maid was clearly confused. 

“I mean, I thought it meant something that you can’t find, or something you’ve misplaced…” she stated “However biased on what you said I think i’m mistaken.”

Henry was bewildered that she didn’t know what it meant. Though he was concerned that no one had ever informed her he didn’t bother digging to find why. “When a ghost is lost, it means they don’t exist anymore.”

“So the ghost equivalent of dead?” 

“I mean, if you want to look at it that way yes” Henry sighed, while he liked that Eleanor had remained invested and hadn’t dozed off, it seemed she was a little too cheerful at times. 

“When a ghost feels like they’ve lost all reason to exist, they become lost themselves,” Henry explained “Does that make sense? That was how it was explained to me.”

“Yeah that makes sense,” Eleanor nodded “Wait… so what you’re saying is Emily is gone forever?”

“Sadly, yes” Henry’s head dropped out of sorrow. Eleanor looked to him and a sadness panged her heart.

“I’m so sorry,” she replied in a quiet respectful tone. 

“Thank you,” was all Henry said. For a moment, he was able to forget about the current situation and focus on the past, but now that it was over he wasn’t sure what to do. 

“Are you okay?” Eleanor asked in a concerned manner. 

“I’m really not sure right now” Henry replied coldly. Though before he felt relived of the melancholy weight on his shoulders it began to return.

“Would you like me to get you something?” Eleanor asked.

“No, it’s alright” as he said that, a thought entered his head. He had to go and talk to Dorian. Though the thought of it filled him with dread he knew that he had to get through it. “I better get going” Henry stated.

“Alright, it was great talking to you!” Eleanor smiled. 

“Yes,” Henry agreed. He left the library and Eleanor went back to sorting books. 

Henry wasn’t sure where Dorian would be, however he headed to the front of the building regardless. He hoped that since Dorian was there when he arrived that he would still be there. He walked through the hallways, with each step the wood beneath his feet creaked. He entered the portrait gallery where on his left he noticed Dorian’s portrait. He didn’t linger on it and continued past the tall room connected to it. 

As he walked he took note of the four elongated paintings that were hung there. One was of Dorian’s aunt Sally Slater who had died performing in a circus she worked at. The next was of Dorian’s grandfather, William Gracey. He built the mansion itself and while he spent his life as a politician in New Orleans however he met a _booming_ end. Dorian’s three uncles Eddy, Asa, and Daniel were pictured sinking into quicksand. The three brothers all became gamblers and were outcast by their father, William. The third portrait was different. The portrait was once of Dorian’s mother and father but had been replaced by one of Constance weirdly enough. 

Henry entered the foyer where he luckily found Dorian. He was pacing back and forth and he almost instantly noticed Henry enter the room. 

“What do you want?” Dorian snarled. He only turned his head slightly to face him. 

Henry felt apprehension creep down his spine. Nonetheless, he spoke “I want to talk.”

“Why do you want to talk” Dorian sighed, placing his hand on his forehead in contemplation. 

“Well for one, Leota told me it would be a good idea to,”

“You do everything Leota tells you?” Dorian scoffed. 

“I listen to her advice because she’s wise… or wiser than you at least” Henry retorted. 

“When you said you came here to talk did you actually mean insult me?” the mansion’s master growled and he approached Henry.

“I wanted to have a meaningful conversation but it seems that you’re refusing to cooperate” Henry glared at him. Dorian backed off. He turned away and leaned against the wood wall in the foyer. There was a silence between the two. No one spoke. Henry then broke the silence “Why did you lie to her?”

“Leota told you then?” Dorian’s expression changed. It was no longer angered, but rather a twinge of remorse seemed to sneak past his tough exterior. 

“Yeah,” he answered “She told me everything.” Dorian turned his glance away, almost in shame. 

“I was angry,” he spoke. Henry looked up to him, surprised that he actually was willing to talk. “I ended my life expecting all my pain to be over, but then I woke in the afterlife feeling as awful as I did before, and Leota being there didn’t help.” Henry continued to listen. “When I recount my memories of the couple decades after I passed all I can remember is anger. Every little thing angered me. I lied to her and now she’s gone and it’s my fault. I don’t think there’s a day where I don’t think about what I've done and the people i’ve hurt.” 

Dorian paused, it almost appeared as though his eyes were filled with tears however his voice continued to be strong regardless. “I’m not going to ask for your forgiveness, I don’t deserve it, at least not yet,” Dorian looked to Henry “Do you think in time I can earn it? From you at least.”

Henry wasn’t sure what to think. Though he sympathized with Dorian he wasn’t ready to forgive him for everything he had done. Him causing Emily to be lost was only one small piece of a larger puzzle that wasn’t going to be easy to put together. Regardless, Henry knew that it was better for Dorian, himself, and everyone else involved that they at least work on forgiveness and getting along.

“Okay,” Henry replied “I suppose that we can work things through.” Henry gave Dorian a small smile and Dorian returned it. 

The awkward silence returned however Henry broke it. “Well then, I have something I need to get to.” Dorian nodded in response and he turned and left. He actually had something he needed to do. 

Henry walked through the manor. Before he felt the endless hallways drag on and each door brought a painful pang to his chest. However now he felt a tiny ball of joy forming, it wasn’t a lot, but it was a start. Henry entered the attic. This time, not out of desperation but simply passing through.

Constance was leaning against the piano that was set near the wall of the room, she was talking to the shadowy pianist that sat there. Though the shadowy ghost couldn’t respond to the bride, he nodded to show he was listening in on the conversation.

“Well you were gone a while, Henry” Constance said to him. 

“Yeah” was all Henry said as he walked past the messy room. He left the attic, and walked down the stairs that led to the graveyard. The stairs left him right at the entrance to it. The graveyard’s keeper still stood at the entrance. He could clearly see that Henry was there, this wasn’t a common trait among mortals. Usually the ability to see ghosts is passed down through family.

Henry passed the caretaker and entered the graveyard. When he had left the mansion all those years ago the only ghosts who lived on the grounds were Dorian, Leota, Emily, himself, and another ghost named Florence who preferred to hide away in the mausoleum. 

The swinging wake partied on in the graveyard. A band of ghosts played a tune on their instruments while a group of busts sang. It was a familiar song that if a ghost said they didn’t know, most would be shocked. Ghosts in the graveyard sang along as they partied. Henry didn’t recognize any of the ghosts in the graveyard. Though he scanned the crowd, hoping to find someone he knew in life, alas all the ghosts were new faces, except for one. 

Henry approached the mausoleum. Ezra, Phineas, and Gus stood outside talking to one another. As he drew closer to the hitchhikers, Phineas nudged Ezra and pointed his finger towards Henry. Ezra looked towards where Phineas pointed and instantly noticed Henry. He stopped when he arrived at the hitchhikers.

“I’m sorry,” Henry started “About earlier, I was so preoccupied in finally being reunited with Emily but… she’s gone.”

“Well he did try to warn you not to go inside” Phineas said, looking to Ezra.

“I know, I know I should have listened,” Henry acknowledged. “But, would you guys mind catching me up like you said you would?” Ezra’s eyes lit up.

“Oh of course! Alright you’re gonna wanna sit down because this may take a while!” Ezra exclaimed. Henry and the other two hitchhiking ghosts sat down and got ready to listen to Ezra. 

* * *

Leota placed her hand on her door handle and swung the door open. It was late now, and she sensed that Dorian was restless. She began to travel down the halls. She found him pacing (as per usual) in the portrait gallery. 

“You’re up late” she stated dryly as she approached him. 

“Gee, I didn’t notice” Dorian replied sarcastically, pointing to the window where the sky was pitch black “Any progress on the curse?”

Leota sighed, “No, of course not, there hasn’t been any progress” she crossed her arms. “Besides, we don’t even know what the intent of the curse was, we don’t know why we’re trapped here.”

“I know, we need to find out the correlation between everyone who’s trapped on the grounds” Dorian responded.

“Oh and another thing,” Leota added angrily “I was talking to your maid, Eleanor and-”

“I’m sorry did you say that?” Dorian interrupted, furious.

“Are you low enough to keep her away from me? What are you afraid of? Oh wait, I think I know, did you not want her to know about the curse? Because she told me clear as day that she was unable to leave too. Why are you keeping secrets from her?”

“Why should I tell her? I don’t even think you’ll be able to lift the curse, so giving her the false hope that someday you’re gonna save the day and fix everything is pointless. I want to save her from that grief” Dorian explained. He leaned up against the wall. “Listen, Leota, I think you should just give up on it, save yourself the time” he sighed.

“You’re just telling me to give up?” Leota questioned, bewildered “Sorry, but I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for everyone else, for myself, Emily, Eleanor, and my daughter” Leota stormed off, fists clenched. 

“Leota wait,” Dorian called out, she stopped dead in her tracks “Fine then, try and lift the curse, but don’t ask for my help when you get desperate.” Leota was turned away from Dorian, but he could feel her glare as she walked away. Master Dorian Gracey was left alone. Once more he stared back at his portrait, the familiar memories came flooding back, and he despised each and every one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINALLY DONE AAA  
> Lmao, anyways I hope everyone enjoyed chapter 1! A bit of backstory on this, I came up with the story idea back in 2017 not long after I joined the Haunted Mansion fandom. I saw that everyone on tumblr had their own headcanons and backstories for the characters and so I ended up creating my own! However I ended up making such expansive headcanons for the characters that they couldn't be contained as just little ideas and that they had to become something. For a long time I was unsure of what, then I decided a comic would be the perfect way to tell the story! However as time drew on I realized how long that was going to take, I wanted my story to be out there for people to read and enjoy already and so the comic is currently on hold and will continue being made once this is complete!  
> Based on my math, if I keep a solid pace of getting a chapter done every seven days or so, the fic should be done by July! Anyways enough of my rambling! Chapter 2 will be called Delightfully Unlivable and you can read all about the upcoming chapters here! https://999-foolishmortals.tumblr.com/post/615460166512640000/chapters-hello-everyone-i-know-i-just-posted-a
> 
> The next chapter should be done before April 24th since compared to this chapter and what I have planned of it, it's going to be much shorter.  
> God I ramble too much, I hope everyone enjoyed!


	2. Delightfully Unlivable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a party has left the mansion a mess, Master Gracey, Henry, Leota, Eleanor, and a reluctant Constance have to clean it up. After their job is done, they all head to bed to get rest however their hopes are let up as a strange shadowy creature wrecks havoc throughout the halls. Dorian, Henry, and Eleanor set up camp in the ballroom theorizing on what it could possibly be, while Leota, Constance, and the Hitchhiking Ghosts search the halls for the monster.

It had been roughly about a month since Henry’s chaotic return to the mansion. He had been mostly caught up on things he missed by his brother, Ezra, mostly meaning that while Ezra definitely mentioned everything, Henry wasn’t able to fully understand considering how his brother was… well, spastic to say the least. 

He thought things were improving. He didn’t feel nearly as awful as he did when he came back. Though he hadn’t healed completely, he knew that it would take time. It was a process after all. Speaking of processes, Dorian’s forgiveness. While the two agreed they would try their best to make things work, things were moving slow, slower than snails' pace slow. 

Dorian and Henry constantly bickered and it seemed no matter what one would say, the other would find something to point out to start an argument. Speaking of arguments, Henry felt that one was on the brink of starting. 

He was sitting in one of the many chairs in the ballroom. While the ballroom was typically active with paranormal activity, it had calmed for the night. While the mansion always has a party going on, tonight’s was exceedingly huge, and exceedingly disastrous. While the happy haunts had settled down for the night, that left Master Gracey and Eleanor to clean up the mess made in the ballroom by themselves. Henry, Leota, the Hitchhikers, and a reluctant Constance all agreed to help out with cleaning.

It had been about an hour since they had begun and midnight had just struck the clock. Henry may have been dead, but that didn’t mean he was unable to feel pain, and as he worked his back began to ache. 

The science behind ghosts was an unknown frontier. Thousands of former doctors and scientists attempted to solve the mysteries of their afterlife. While some discoveries were made, they were few and far between as most knowledge about ghosts is unknown. Most scientists give up eventually and tell everyone that there’s no point in questions anymore, we’re all dead anyway, who cares? Some ghosts have very typical abilities such as flying, passing through walls, levitation, etc. and some don’t, some are completely blue and some aren’t, some feel pain, and some don’t. Henry was _‘lucky’_ enough to be blessed with the feeling of pain in his afterlife. 

Henry began to dissociate from the situation that was happening around him, however this state was quickly broken.

“Get back to work” the voice of Dorian broke his thoughts. Henry was still sitting in the ballroom chair. Around him the other ghosts were hard at work. Leota held a small brush and was sweeping glass into her hand, the hitchhikers were mopping up what appeared to be a puddle of spilled wine, Eleanor was dangling herself from the chandelier and was dusting it.

“Give me a moment,” Henry stated “My back’s sore, and not only that, why haven’t you said anything about Constance? She hasn’t lifted a single finger to do work.” He pointed to the bride. She had clearly been zoned out due to her boredom, her right index finger was swirling a stand of her blonde hair. She heard Henry say her name so her gaze drifted over to him.

“Hmm? What was that?” Constance asked.

“Why aren’t you working?” Henry questioned. Her blue eyes narrowed at him.

“I’m supervising, Henry” Constance turned her vision away, disinterested in the conversation.

“Constance, come on you have to work” Dorian told her, crossing his arms.

“I already told you, I'm supervising” Constance’s gaze turned to Dorian and as she spoke her mouth turned into a smirk.

Dorian sighed in defeat, “Fine then.” Before he walked away he looked to Henry and said “You still need to get back up.”

“You know i’m not as able as I was before,” he argued. From across the ballroom, he heard the laugh of Ezra cut through the rather quiet room.

“Able? I don’t think there was ever a time when you’d be described as _‘able’_!” Ezra chuckled loudly and Henry rolled his eyes and shook his head as he smiled at Ezra’s poor attempt at a joke. “All you did when you were alive was work! I had to practically drag you out of your work to eat” Ezra added.

“And if I hadn’t worked we would’ve been homeless, so you’re welcome” Henry chuckled, shifting in his chair. 

“And what would you have done if you and Ezra never had my help?” Dorian questioned jokingly.

“Most definitely better off, considering you left anyway, and you would’ve starved on the streets if I hadn’t taken you in” Henry stood up and gave a smirk to Dorian, he grabbed the broom out of his hand and walked past him. His back still ached but it wasn’t as bad now.

Dorian shook his head “Alright fine then” he chuckled.

“Alright you two, get back to work” Leota ordered from across the room. She had just finished sweeping the glass into a pile to pick up and throw away. 

“Oh, you’re the one giving orders now?” the master raised an eyebrow. 

“Since the original boss is too incompetent to do so, yes, i’m giving orders” she argued.

“I have an idea!” Eleanor shouted from above. In one hand she gripped the chandelier and in the other a brush to sweep away the dust that had collected on it. “How about we clean and don’t talk?!” she continued to shout to the ghosts below, even though she could be still be easily heard if she didn’t. 

“That sounds wonderful, Eleanor!” Ezra agreed in an equally loud shout, he cupped his hands around his mouth to louden his voice. “If only everyone else would listen!” he side-eyed the rest of the ghosts. 

“Ezra, if I were you I would’ve folded in an hour ago” Phineas said to the other hitchhiker, Gus nodded in agreement. He sat in one of the chairs kicking his legs in a childlike manner. 

“That’s it,” Constance stood up and pounded her fist on the table “Will you all just shut up?! You all bickering isn’t cute, so stop” Constance sat back down, fuming with anger.

Though no more words were exchanged, it seemed that everyone mutually agreed to be quiet. Though everyone disliked how quiet it was, they soon found that progress on their cleaning quickened. It was around one or two in the morning when the ghosts were finally finished with their work. They were all equally exhausted. As they began to return to their rooms the group bid each other goodnight.

Henry made his way to the attic balcony. Dorian had offered him one of the many rooms that were available, however Henry was too stubborn to accept it. He wanted to stay in the attic, for every time he entered he felt like Emily was there. However, unluckily for him, Constance was just as stubborn as himself. She refused to let him stay there, and he was unwilling to ask Dorian for a room so he set up camp on the attic balcony. For one it was the closest place to the attic, and two it definitely made Constance mad, which Henry found very amusing.

Henry had his things spread out on the balcony. Constance had allowed him to retrieve some of his possessions he regrettably had left behind all those years before and among those items were hatboxes and on top of one of them sat a lantern. Beside the retrieved hatboxes was the one he carried on those years he was away, inside he held various things he took with him on his travels. 

He sat down on the hardwood flooring and as he did so it creaked. A small breeze fluttered past him as he did so, however he paid no attention to it. In the decades he spent outside, exposed to the elements, Henry had gotten used to the nighttime chill. Tonight it was almost unnoticeable as now that it was June it wasn’t nearly as cold as when he arrived. He got settled down for the night and he finally felt relaxed after all that working. 

As soon as he closed his eyes, he quickly opened them. A loud crash disturbed him from getting his rest. He heard another crash followed by a boom. He quickly sat up and opened the attic door urgently. He noticed Constance was sitting in a chair, reading a novel.

“What was that?” Henry questioned. Constance didn’t look at him. 

“What was what?” Constance asked in a smug manner.

“For the love of god Constance I know you heard that too” he rolled his eyes. Constance looked up from her book.

“It sounded like it was from the ballroom” she answered. He didn’t respond and just walked out to the door to the ballroom. He peered out into the large room. For a moment he thought that a couple of the graveyard ghosts had snuck inside for more partying, however what he saw made him gasp with shock.

A shadowy monstrous figure was flying around the room. When he gasped it’s head turned towards him swiftly. It’s eyes glowed bright red and in that same moment it swooped forward. In panic, Henry stepped back and watched as it flew up to the attic and flew into the hallway. As soon as it was gone, he noticed Leota had been standing on the other side of the ballroom balcony. 

The room was silent until Leota spoke up “What in the world was that?”

“Hold on, you don’t know?” Henry questioned, as soon as he said that Dorian appeared from the hallway.

“My god, we’ve broken Leota,” Dorian added “The one thing she can’t answer” he said smugfully.

“Are you not concerned about the fact that that _thing_ just went and destroyed your ballroom?” Leota questioned. Dorian turned to look at the mess of a room before him.

The table had been knocked over, the plates, glasses, and silverware were laying on the floor alongside it, many had been shattered in their fall. In the monster’s flying, the chandelier had been hit and so it was continuously swinging back and forth rhythmically. 

“Oh,” Dorian said in response to the room and then sighed ”Great, another reason for my grandfather to be angry with me, I swear we’ve broken more of his plates than we have ghosts in the mansion.” 

“Yeah” Leota replied in a tired manner. The door that connected the ballroom to the outside was swung open and entered the three hitchhiking ghosts. 

“You guys okay?” Phineas asked, Ezra followed behind him and Gus trailed behind. 

“Yeah, we’re alright,” Henry said to the hitchhikers. As he said so, the three noticed the state of the wrecked ballroom.

“What in the world happened here?” Ezra asked in utter shock. The three hitchhikers collectively began to walk towards the other group of ghosts.

“Something got in,” Leota answered “And we’re not sure what.”

“Did something happen?” Eleanor appeared from the hallway, yawning. Dorian turned to her.

“No, we’re just standing around in a destroyed ballroom at two AM for no reason” he replied sarcastically. 

“A monster got in” Leota informed Eleanor.

“Oh, well are we gonna go get it?” the maid asked. It seemed that she had just changed into her pajamas when she heard the noise. No longer was she wearing her typical uniform, but now was wearing a hoodie and a pair of leggings. 

Dorian sighed, “We might as well, alright come on everyone.” The master began to walk down towards where the monster flew to but Leota grabbed his shoulder.

“Absolutely not,” Leota spoke “Based on how you were acting previously tonight, I don’t think any one of us trusts you to be in charge of finding that thing.”

“What? I’m sure at least someone trusts me” Dorian crossed his arms and shook his head in disbelief. 

“Okay, let's be fair here,” Leota smiled “Does anyone here trust Dorian enough to allow him to lead the hunt for that thing” The group of ghosts shuffled around awkwardly and avoided eyecontact with him. Eleanor raised her hand ever so slightly, but within a moment of thinking she put it back down again. 

“I’d say it’s been settled” the madame smirked “Now you’re going to say in the ballroom.”

“And how the hell is that helping you find that thing?” Dorian asked, tilting his head in utter confusion.

“For one, in the case that the monster comes back to the ballroom you’ll be prepared, and two, you won’t get in the way by bickering.” 

“And if it comes back to the ballroom how do you expect me to catch it by myself?”

“You won’t be by yourself,” Leota answered “Henry and Eleanor will be with you”. Henry and Dorian looked at each other in disdain. Eleanor gave a big smile to the other two. 

“This’ll be fun!” she then gasped with a realization “It’ll be like a slumber party!” Once more Henry and Dorian looked to each other, both not being sure if they could last the night. 

Suddenly, Constance appeared. She had teleported herself from the attic. “If I heard correctly, we’ll be hunting down a strange unknown monster throughout the halls in the dead of night while Henry and Dorian will be out of the picture? Count me in” Constance smirked. 

“Oh come on!” Dorian exclaimed, Henry just shook his head and sighed out of disappointment. 

“Let’s not idle any longer, we should go now” Leota suggested. Constance and the Hitchhikers nodded in agreement and they began to head off on their way to track the monster down.

“Well that’s just great” Dorian scoffed, he began to head down the ballroom and Henry and Eleanor followed from behind. 

“This won’t be so bad! I think we can have a lot of fun camping out in the ballroom!” Eleanor said cheerfully, though she looked dead tired the maid still acted as energetic as ever. “Don’t be too upset, Master Gracey” Eleanor added “Some people just can’t be trusted with some things, and while you’re great at running the mansion, completing a task like locating a mysterious monster in the halls isn’t your strong suit and that’s okay!” 

“I apreaciate the sentiment, Eleanor, but that didn’t help one bit” Dorian thanked her dryly.

“I’m still confused as to why Leota wanted me to stay behind” Henry stated. 

“Well it’s Leota we’re talking about,” Dorian replied as he pushed the table upright “I’m not sure I can explain why she does anything.” 

“If I were Leota, I’d want you two to start getting along, so maybe spending more time with each other will make progress happen” Eleanor gave an attempt at an explanation.

“That… sounds about right” Henry sighed as he picked up a chair that had been knocked over “I can’t believe we spent hours picking up everything, and now the ballrooms an even bigger mess.” 

“Trust me, I’m aware of how bad this all is” Dorian sat down in one of the chairs, he attempted to rub the tiredness from his eyes but after he did so he still appeared equally as drained as before. 

“I don’t think it’s that bad” Eleanor responded. Dorian looked as if he was about to argue, but just sighed. It appeared he was too tired to try.

* * *

“Alright, does anyone have any ideas as to how to track this thing down?” Leota asked the group of ghosts. They all looked at each other, waiting for someone to pipe up, however none spoke. “Well then, how about we just search the hallways first and hope it didn’t go elsewhere” Leota suggested. 

“But, the hallways are endless,” Phineas interjected “We would just be chasing after that thing for an eternity.” 

“I’d have to agree with Phin,” Ezra added

“Do we have any other options?” she asked the group, who didn’t say anything. Leota groaned "Wow you're all so help full" she rubbed the bridge between her nose tiredly. 

"In my personal opinion, I think we should just keep making our way down the endless hallway and hope that we find something, after all it couldn't have gone far could it?" Constance added. 

"Alright, let's just get moving and hope that we find _something_ " 

* * *

Roughly about thirty minutes had passed and the ballroom and been somewhat cleaned. All the glass had been swept to the side and the table and chairs and been placed back upward. In the cleaned center of the room, Eleanor laid down some blankets and pillows that she had dug out from the attic's mess. 

"Eleanor do we really need those?" Dorian questioned, crossing his arms. 

"Well if we're gonna be here, we might as well get comfortable" Eleanor grinned widely, flattening out her blanket. Henry sighed and sat down on the blanket beside Eleanor, his back had begun to hurt once more and as much as he wanted to complain he was too tired to listen to Dorian start an argument. Dorian followed Henry and sat down on another blanket and Eleanor had placed down.

"Now what?" Henry asked, blinking tiredly.

Eleanor loudly gasped "What if we told scary ghost stories!" After speaking, Henry and Dorian started at her blankly she stared back, not fully understanding why they weren't replying.

"Eleanor..." Dorian said in a exhausted tone as he exhaled. 

"What?" the maid perked up confused.

"We're...." Dorian buried his hands into his face "Eleanor we're ghosts... how can ghosts be scary if we're dead?"

"Hey! I can still think of scary things ghosts have to deal with like..." she paused for a moment to think, snapping her fingers as she racked her brain "What about self doubt?"

"Eleanor it's two in the morning... I think you're delusional" Henry sighed.

"Yeah probably" Eleanor hunched her shoulders but then quickly perked up again upon thinking of another idea "What if we theorized on what the monster is?"

"Alright, I'll go first, the monster broke into the mansion looking for food however upon realizing that there was none, it ran off" Dorian said dryly.

"No, I mean like... what is it?" everyone was quiet, no one wanted to speak "I think it's Mothman." 

"Eleanor please... just could we all just be quiet for two damn seconds... please" Henry sighed.

"What? It's just a theory?" Eleanor questioned, she began to bounce her leg rhythmically as she sat. 

"Why would you think it's Mothman? Mothman's from West Virginia... we're in Louisiana!" Dorian exclaimed "I genuinely think that somethings wrong with you."

"Could you both just shut up" Henry buried his face into his hands.

* * *

The group had been walking through the hallway for a while now, and everyone was starting to loose hope. As Leota walked she tried to think of how far the monster would have flown into the hallway, however her thinking was quickly interrupted by Constance. 

"Are we giving up yet? Because I'm about ready to" Constance muttered dryly under her breath. 

"I second that" Phineas perked up. 

"Same here" Ezra sighed as he walked hunched. 

"Do you guys really want that thing roaming the halls? Who knows what damage it's going to do!" Leota argued, crossing her arms "I'm tired too, however this is important and it needs to be dealt with now before it destroys the whole mansion."

"Yeah, yeah I get that, but even then let's say we find this thing, how are we going to catch it with how tired we are?" Constance refuted. 

"Constance, would you rather go to bed tired tonight knowing that you helped catch would could be a dangerous monster, or how about we give up and wake up to a demolished mansion" Leota narrowed her eyes as she uncrossed her arms. 

"Oh you know I wouldn't care if the mansion is a pile of rubble by the morning," Constance chuckled "I have five _loving_ husbands who I could easily convince to let me stay in the case that I'm in need of a new address."

"Wait but what about us?" Ezra asked confused "We don't have anywhere to go if there's no mansion"

The Black Widow Bride turned to Ezra "Well sucks to be you then." Ezra's eyes narrowed at the bride. 

"Oh why I oughta!" Ezra began approaching the bride however was quickly stopped as a flash of black flew past them. It was the monster. Now up close, Leota could see it was covered head to toe in black fur. Without saying another word Leota began to sprint after it. She heard someone call her name, but she was too preoccupied to figure out who. Though the tiredness was aching, she kept up a steady speed as she ran. Ahead of her, the monster began to pick up speed and as she did so she lifted herself off the ground and began to fly towards it. Leota was quickly catching up and the monster knew this just as well as Leota did. Suddenly, the monster took a right and entered a room. 

Leota skidded to a halt. How did the monster get in? The mansion was enchanted to no ghost could enter a room that wasn't theirs unless invited inside. However upon examining the door it entered, she realized it had been open previously, just ever so slightly. Cautiously, she reached her hand out and pulled the door open. Before stepping in, she looked around the room to see if she could spot the monster. However since the room was pitch black it would've been hard to see the dark furred monster. Leota took a step inside the room and looked around. To her right, she noticed a dresser and on top of that she saw a unlit candle. Leota reached out and grabbed a hold of it, she pinched her fingers around the wick and lit it. The candle didn't provide a large amount of light, however it was good enough. 

She began to wave it around to examine the room. However soon a strange feeling began to creep up her spine, a feeling she had tried to forget all those years before. She quickly turned back around and opened the top drawer to the dresser. It was mostly empty, aside from the thick layer of dust that had accumulated on the wood surface. Leota reached her hand inside and felt around. Soon enough she pulled out a photograph and blew the dust off of it. In the photo was a family. A father alongside a mother and in front of them sat two young girls. One of the girls looked to be about four or five years old and the other looked about seven or eight, it was hard to determine. Either way, the two girls had to have been dead by now, based on how aged the photo was. She placed the photo back into the dresser but as she did so she felt a small piece of metal brush against her hand, a ring perhaps? Regardless she ignored it and closed the drawer. 

She continued her search, looking high and low, however it appeared that the monster was gone. She heard a small growl and she whipped her head around to face the direction she heard it. The room was connected to a balcony and on the balcony sat the monster, it growled once more it's eyes glowing brighter and it flew off into the night. For a moment, Leota felt relived, knowing it was gone however she quickly realized that it was flying in the direction of the ballroom. Leota placed the candle back on the dresser and sprinted back out the door. She noticed that the group of ghosts had caught up with her, however there was no time to stop and mingle. Leota had to get to the ballroom as quickly as possible. 

Soon enough she entered the ballroom and noticed Eleanor, Henry, and Dorian sitting on the floor. Eleanor had been chatting away endlessly about something while Dorian nodded blankly and Henry dozed off, holding his head up with his hand. 

"I'd suggest you all watch out, that monsters on it's way back" Leota called down to the group below. 

"What?" Dorian called back, but before she could respond the monster flew through the ballroom's wall and entered once more. It growled and let out a loud screech as it latched itself onto the chandelier. Leota shot a ball of light towards it and as it hit the monster it screeched and flew back. It's large wings flapped, sending a huge gust of air towards Leota. The monster phased through the ballroom wall once more and out into the night. 

As the monster flew away, Leota sighed. "Alright everyone, I think it's gone" her shoulder's, previously stiff and tense dropped in relaxation. 

"Huh, what happened?" Henry shook himself awake, looking around the ballroom, eyes half open. 

"Alright, everyone let's head back to our rooms and go to sleep" Dorian added, rubbing his tired eyes. Though he had rubbed and rubbed all night, the tiredness only grew and now he felt like any moment he would just pass out. 

"Um guys, look outside" Eleanor pointed to the window. Tiny beams of light entered the ballroom through the windows, the sun had begun to set.

Dorian groaned "We really just spent the entire night chasing after that thing..."

"We?!" Leota snapped "I'm about ready to knock some sense into you!" Leota gripped the balcony as she shouted at the mansion's master.

"Yeah, feel free to do whatever after I go to sleep" Dorian sat up and began to make his way up to Leota. He walked past her and into the hallway towards his room. 

"Did you guys chase it away?" Constance asked, she and the hitchhiking ghosts had finally caught up with the group. 

"Yeah, no thanks to you four" Leota growled at the group.

"Aw, no thank you, Leota" Constance smirked "After all you saved the magnificent Gracey manor from being destroyed, if we hadn't counted on your guidance we never would have saved the day!"

"I hate you" the madame replied dryly, her shoulder's slumped tiredly. 

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" the bride placed her hands on her hips 

"You know, I didn't think you could get any more annoying, Constance" Ezra grumbled tiredly "But I am more than often not wrong."

"Aw, you're all just so cute when you're tired and angry" Constance approached Leota, patting her on the head "Now if you would all excuse me, I'm off to bed."

"I'm gonna kill that woman" Leota gritted her teeth.

"Too late, Leo" the bride chuckled.

" _Leo_?!" the madame exclaimed confusedly. 

"My god, your reactions to everything are priceless, have a good rest" Constance entered the attic and closed the door behind.

"I-" Leota was practically speechless "God that woman's a pain in the ass."

"Tell me about it," Henry added, rubbing the back of his neck "I practically live with her. I can't imagine how Emily would've felt living with her for what... twenty or so years?"

"Neither can I, Henry" as she spoke Eleanor approached him.

"So..." Eleanor looked to him, her eyes barley open "Do you think it was Mothman?"

The skeletal man groaned "Eleanor, go to bed." 

"No can do" she began to drag herself off to her room. Her feet shuffled across the floor as she walked away. 

"You better go get some rest, you look drained" Leota advised.

"Me? Listen I can get to bed just fine, what about you? You chased that thing from down the hall all the way back here," he replied "Please get some rest, Leota... you need it more than anyone."

"Yeah I know, I promise I'll get to bed" she answered honestly. "Well, I better head back, and the same for you." Henry was too tired to reply, he just nodded and made his way to the attic and prayed that he could get some sleep finally without being disturbed by a giant monster. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope yall enjoyed! I know I said that this chapter would be out like a month ago or something, but I lost motivation to work on it but I finally got chapter two done. Considering the angst from chapter one I though it would be nice to have just a little slice of life chapter with some character building. This chapter was honestly so fun to write, especially the character reactions. God I missed writing them. Anyways I hope yall enjoyed! Also if you see any typos or whatever in the writing, just know I finished this at like one in the morning and I don't plan on editing it till the morning because i'm tired. Regardless, I hope to get the third chapter out soon!
> 
> Oh and p.s.... It was totally Mothman


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